Asia's steel production rose 1.7 percent in July this year

According to the latest data released by the World Steel Association, steel production across Asia rose 1.7 percent on an annualized basis in July.

China's total crude steel production in July reached 68.324 million tons, up 1.5 percent from July 2013, when production was 67.297 million tons. India produced 6.960 million tonnes of steel, up 1.7 percent from 6.845 million tonnes of steel products achieved in July 2013.

Japan reported a drop in crude steel production in July 2014. Steel production in Japan fell from 9.297 million tonnes in July 2013 to 9.295 million tonnes in the same month this year.

Crude steel production in South Korea has grown significantly. The increase was 6.2 percent in July this year to 5.897 million tons, compared with 5.555 million tons in July 2013.

Taiwan increased steel production in July by 3.5 percent to 1.940 million tons, up from 1.875 million tons in the same month last year.

The following table shows the cumulative steel production for the first seven months of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013, in thousands of tonnes.